Staying connected to your work all the time may seem beneficial … but in the long term, never dropping out is detrimental to your well-being and promotes stress.
Wi-Fi, 4G, mobile phones and laptops… For workaholics, new technologies help to never drop out. But staying connected all the time can be harmful in the long run. So says a review of studies presented at the annual meeting of the Department of Work Psychology of the British Psychological Society.
“The use of new technologies at work outside of office hours is a complex issue that will last and must be resolved,” said Svenja Schlachter, University of Surrey (UK). This doctoral student reviewed 65 published studies, conducted on 50,000 American employees. The time spent working outside office hours, their well-being and the quality of their private life were assessed in particular.
Better use of technology
Employees who stay connected believe they are more flexible, more efficient. They even think their employers expect them to be available 24/7. “Staying connected can, at first glance, improve flexibility and efficiency, but in the long run it can. lead to more hours spent working, and undermine well-being through stress and work-life imbalance, ”warns Svenja Schalchter.
In the eyes of the doctoral student and her colleagues, the relationship with new technologies must be reviewed to be more efficient: “Researchers, employers and employees must work together on how to use technologies in the most beneficial way possible, while reducing its negative effects. As we know, excessive hours spent at work, especially when they encroach on private life, promote burnout syndrome.
.
